Bangladeshi Art Has Its Biennale Debut

Indian contemporary art made its debut at this year’s Venice Biennale, a show that tops the agenda of art lovers worldwide. The Biennale, which takes place in Italy’s lagoon city every two years and is now in its 54th edition, opened to the public on Saturday.

But India is not alone: Another South Asian country is having its own, quieter Venice debut–Bangladesh.

Speaking to India Real Time on the day of the inauguration, Paolo Tamburella, co-curator of the country’s pavilion, says lack of resources and poor communication, normally make it “very difficult” for Bangladesh’s contemporary art to have global reach. He says the country’s presence at the Biennale, which is on till November, now gives it “the possibility of being inside an international arena.”

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For the show, Mr. Tamburella and fellow curator Mary Angela Schroth brought together five Dhaka-based artists. Called “Parables,” the exhibition seeks to addresses the contradictions of the country’s contemporary culture and the legacies of its recent history.

Courtesy of Paolo Tamburella

A detail from Promotesh Dal Pulak’s ‘Echoed Moments in Time’ (2011).

Rahman Mahbubur’s “I was told to say these words” (2010-2011) is a provocative take on Islamic culture. In his installation, pigs clad in goat and cow skin stand in metal cages, while sounds of slaughter play in the background.

Tayeba Begum Lipi addresses another aspect of her country’s culture: weddings. In “I wed Myself” (2010), a split-screen video installation, she interprets both the groom and the bride as they prepare for their wedding.

In his “Echoed Moments in Time” (2011), Promotesh Das Pulak revisits archive videos and still images of the 1971 war of independence, a key moment in Bangladesh’s national narrative. Mr. Das Pulak, who was born years after the war ended, manipulated the images to place himself as the protagonist of each scene.

To find the Bangladesh pavilion, visitors will have to stray from the Arsenale and the Giardini, the Biennale’s main venues, and head to the Gervasuti Foundation, a converted family workshop that Mr. Tamburella describes as having a “domestic” feel.

Pairing Bangladesh with another underdog of the art world in the same venue – Iraq – may prove to be a winning formula for drawing visitors. Ms. Schroth, a Rome-based American curator known for her non-Eurocentric and often provocative choices, was also in charge of bringing the Iraqi pavilion to the Biennale after a 35-year gap.

Photo by Mahbubur Rahman/ Courtesy of Paolo Tamburella

A still from Tayeba Begum Lipi’s ‘I wed Myself’ (2010).

The Biennale, which first started in Venice over a century ago, may help raise the profile of South Asia’s contemporary art, which, while making strides, still lags behind that of neighboring countries like China. While Chinese art routinely breaks the million-dollar mark at auctions, for Indian art it remains a rarer occurrence. Bangladesh’s art market is even smaller and, unlike India’s, lacks the support of a wealthy global elite.

National pavilions have to be okayed by their country’s governments, which take varying degrees of interest in selecting artists. In the case of Bangladesh, the pavilion was largely an initiative of Mr. Tamburella and Ms. Schroth, who had earlier brought most of the same Bangladeshi artists to a Rome exhibition. Mr. Tamburella, an artist himself, has focused much of his personal work on Bangladesh.

But while the India and Bangladesh pavilions are likely here to stay, we’ll have to wait at least two years to see a greater South Asian contingent at the art show. Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal are not among the 89 countries that have a presence at the prestigious art show. Andorra, Zimbabwe and even Saudi Arabia are just some of the countries that beat them to it, having inaugurated their first pavilions this year, too.

Still, Mr. Tamburella said having its own pavilion in Venice may not necessarily be life-changing for Bangladeshi art. “What exactly it will generate we will see in the future,” he said. “It’s a great starting point.”

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